WASHINGTON, D.C. – Georgetown University built a 24-point lead 16 minutes into Monday night's season-opener, and Loyola University Maryland pulled within 11 on several occasions in the second half, the Hoyas went on to an 80-58 victory at the Capital One Arena.
Vince Iwchukwu scored two of his 21 points on an interior basket with 4:09 to play in the first half and Georgetown (1-0 overall) led, 41-18.
The Hoyas carried the 24-point lead into halftime, and they would extend the gap to 26 just over a minute into the second stanza with another Iwchukwu basket.
Loyola (0-1) began to chip away at the margin two possessions later with Leo Ricektts' first three of the game at 16:46.
D'Andre Harrison followed with a pair of points on a driving layup, and the Greyhounds were down 50-30.
Troy Cicero Jr. and
Robbie Long III hit threes from the right side on consecutive possessions for Loyola, and the Greyhounds moved within 14, 50-36.
After a Williams three went off target for the Hoyas, Long hit another three at 14:12, and Loyola was within 11.
The teams traded baskets on the next five possessions with Rickets converting twice at the rim for Loyola, and then at 11:17,
Everett Barnes had a putback dunk to keep the margin at 11.
Georgetown, however, scored the next 16 points over a span of 6:42.
Jaland Lowe led the Hoyas with 23 points, and Iwchukwu had 21.
Ricketts led Loyola with 10 points, all in the second half. Barnes and
Sebastien Emenalo both scored seven, while Harrison had six as did Long and
Gage Howard Jr. in their collegiate debuts.
Emenalo grabbed a team-best eight rebounds for Loyola, and
Carter Berg-McLean had seven assists against just one turnover.
Loyola will be back in action on Friday, November 6, with a 7 p.m. game at Mount St. Mary's University.
